


exam week.

by fullofhearts



Series: cats ears and top hats [1]
Category: Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-09-30 10:49:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17222603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fullofhearts/pseuds/fullofhearts
Summary: Harley barely takes care of himself whenever it's near exam week.Harith hates it whenever he does that.





	exam week.

**Author's Note:**

> hello and welcome to the beginning of when my harihar hell started. this is just a fluffy oneshot about their friendship, so don't expect much happening between them here. but in the future oneshots, they will be more intimate with each other :^)

_Poke._

 

"Stop."

 

_Poke._

 

"Harith, you better stop it, or I swear I'll slice off your tail with one of my cards."

 

Harith couldn't help but grin at Harley's threat. He knew that it shouldn't be taken seriously. How come a child like him would do something so brutal? But when he looked up to meet Harley's gaze, he shuddered when he realised that the mage was serious. Because, right now, Harley was glaring at him with _that _look, and he had never joked before whenever he shows that expression.__

 

"Sorry. I won't disturb you again, I promise," Harith said, giving the Mage Genius an apologetic smile. "It's just... I couldn't help myself. You were so deeply focused, it's hard not to annoy you."

 

Harley sighed and rubbed his temple. "You said you wanted me to do my homework here so that we can eat _and_ you can help me with my homework. But if you're going to disturb me, might as well I do it in my room."

 

"Okay, okay. I won't disturb you anymore," Harith said, raising his hands as a sign of surrender. The corners of his lips then twitched upwards. "Geez, you really are serious when it comes to exams."

 

Harley rolled his eyes before concentrating on his math homework again. Harith watched as the smaller mage's brow furrowed, so he decided to throw a glance at the page Harley was on. Right now, Harley was doing a math equation that should be done by someone older than his age. But since he was a child prodigy, they had to give him more difficult questions, because questions for his age were too easy for him. Harith knew how to answer that question—because it was actually a question for _his_ age—and he decided to offer some help.

 

"Need help?" he asked.

 

"No, it's fine," Harley said, shaking his head. Harith watched as his eyelids drooped before he placed his whole face onto the table.

 

"Harley?" Harith called, patting the mage's head. "Don't give up now! I'm here to help you if you want."

 

Harley grumbled something inaudible and lifted his face from the table. After staring at him for a while, only now Harith noticed that the mage looked really tired. He knew that exams were around the corner, but Harley didn't have to go this far to prove himself. He was good enough as he is, and Harith didn't know how good the mage wanted to be before he would stop pushing himself.

 

Harith tilted his head, his face worried, when Harley rubbed his forehead again. "Harley, are you okay?"

 

"I'm fine," Harley mumbled, grabbing his pencil again. "I just slept late yesterday."

 

"What time?"

 

"About... three in the morning?"

 

Harith's eyes widened. If Harley had slept three in the morning, that could only mean one thing. "You got only four hours of sleep?! Where was Lesley? Why didn't she scold you for sleeping late?"

 

"She slept early yesterday, so she didn't know," Harley answered and rubbed one of his eyes. Finally, it looked like he was able to answer the question he had been staring for the last five minutes. "I mean, I had to study..."

 

Harley started coughing, and Harith's brows knitted as he watched the mage covered his mouth. Now, Harith was truly concerned. Harley doesn't look like he was sick, but he looked drained. He knew that it was probably nothing, but still, maybe it was best if Harley decided to go to the infirmary for some check up.

 

Harith stood up. "Harley, I think you need to see Rafaela. You might be sick."

 

"I'm not," Harley said, glaring at him. Then, he coughed again. Harith raised a brow to prove his point, but Harley just waved a hand around. "I'm fine, really. I'll be better tomorrow when I sleep early tonight. Trust me."

 

"You know, that's going to be a hard one, because, whenever you say _trust me_ , things will always end up with me not trusting you."

 

Harley rolled his eyes. "You worry too much. Nothing's wrong with me."

 

"Are you sure?"

 

"Really sure."

 

"Fine," Harith said, giving in. He lifted an index finger in front of the Mage Genius' face. "But, if I ended up _not_ trusting you, you're going to get a flick on the forehead, all right?"

 

Harley scoffed, but smiled. "Deal."

 

➳

 

Yesterday, Harith almost told Lesley about Harley's condition when the mage kept dozing off. But Harley had threatened that he would kill him if he did, so he ended up not telling the sniper anything. The mage kept repeating that nothing was to be worried about, and that he was just a little tired. Harith wished that he would take care of his self better. Whenever exams are close, he would always sleep late, eat less, and focus more on his studies. He was already good—like, really, _really_ good. How much does he want to improve himself until he was satisfied?

 

Speaking of the devil, Harith caught Harley exiting his dorm and waved at him. The mage smiled in greeting, before he started heading to the direction of the training room. Harith caught up with the mage just in time to walk beside him. He took a moment to inspect Harley and realised that the mage didn't look so good.

 

"Tell me, what time did you sleep last night?" Harith asked.

 

"Oh god, not you too." Harley groaned. "It's bad enough that Lesley gave me a one hour lecture for not sleeping early the day before. By the way, yes, she found out."

 

"Serves you right! You should really learn to take care of yourself better when it's near exam week."

 

Harley looked at him and raised a brow. "Are you my mom or something?"

 

"I will be one if I have to," Harith answered, his arms crossed over his chest. He didn't know that Harley's sentence was meant to offend him, but he was too distracted with the mage's health to care. "Now, what time did you sleep yesterday?"

 

Harley rolled his eyes. "I really do have three mom's."

 

Harith blinked. "Three?"

 

"First, my actual mom. Second, Lesley. Third, you."

 

"Oh," Harith said. Then, a playful smile crept on his lips. "Well, maybe little boys like you _do_ need three mom's."

 

Harley gave him a deadpan stare before deciding to ignore him. Ah, Harith should've known that this would happen. Harley being sensitive about his height was one thing, but seeing others treating him like a child was another.

 

All of a sudden, Harley started coughing, and his body swayed a little. He leaned forward, and Harith was just in time to catch him before he could collapse. "Harley?!"

 

"Sorry, I just–" Harley placed a hand over his forehead. "It feels like the place is spinning."

 

"Damn it, Harley, I knew I could never trust you!" Harith said, slowly lowering the mage so that Harley could lean against the wall. "You stay here while I call for someone."

 

Harley opened his mouth—probably to protest that he was fine—but Harith cut him off before he could.

 

"No, you are _not_ fine. I'm _so_ going to kill you for not taking care of yourself—if Lesley doesn't kill you first," Harith said, looking around. "You stay here. Don't try to go anywhere on your own. I'll call for an adult."

 

Harley just nodded his head and closed his eyes.

 

➳

 

Harith watched as Rafaela took out the thermometer from Harley's mouth. Beside him, Lesley was standing next to the angel, her lips curved into a frown. Rafaela checked the thermometer before looking at the sniper. She shook her head, and Harith watched as Lesley ran a hand through her hair in frustration.

 

"Harley, I told you many, many times," Lesley said, her voice in between anger and frustration. She looked at her brother, and Harley looked away when his sister's eyes fell onto him. "I know you care so much about your results, and I'm proud that you've been doing so well, but this has to stop. I don't care if you don't get excellent grades. Any grades are fine with me."

 

Harley opened his mouth. "But–"

 

"No but's. You are in _so_ much trouble when you get better." Lesley glanced at the angel beside her. "Tell him what he had been doing to himself, Rafaela."

 

Rafaela sighed before facing the Mage Genius. "You don't eat enough, you don't get as much sleep as you should, and you continously strain yourself by reading books for _hours_. Harley, I'm not saying that studying is bad, but you have to stop overworking yourself. As a mage, and someone who is still young, your body can't handle it if you don't keep yourself healthy."

 

Harley averted his gaze from the angel. "But I'm fine–"

 

"No, you are _not_ ," Rafaela said, sternly, and showed him the thermometer. "You have a temperature and your body is exhausted. And this isn't the first time you appeared to me like this. It always happens near exam week, which is not good."

 

Harley was about to deny Rafaela's sentence, but the deadly look Lesley gave him made him shut his mouth. He let out a deep breath and mumbled, "Okay, I'm sorry. I promise I won't do it again."

 

"You better keep that promise," Rafaela said, her hands on her hips. She turned to looked at Lesley. "Someone needs to keep an eye on him so that he doesn't end up holding a book. He needs rest, and I mean _lots_ of rest."

 

"I can try asking the Headmaster to skip my training today," Lesley said.

 

"I can look out for him if you want."

 

Lesley and Rafaela looked at Harith, their faces surprised. Harith honestly didn't mind looking out for Harley. He didn't have training today, and since the others—Nana, Cyclops, Chang'e, Lolita—were out on a mission, it would be boring if he just wondered around in the academy, doing nothing.

 

"I don't want to trouble you," Lesley said, her features softening.

 

"No, it's fine," Harith said, smiling. He then gave her a half-hearted shrug. "I don't have training today, so I can look out for him if you want."

 

Behind Lesley, Harley had a scowl on his face. Harith could see the words Harley mouthed; _Screw you. I don't need a babysitter._

 

Lesley didn't notice the deadly glare Harley was sending his way. She merely smiled at him and placed a hand over his shoulder. "Thank you, Harith. And thank you for telling me about my brother. If you weren't there, I wouldn't know that he was actually–" Lesley whirled around to face her brother, and her face turned menacing, "– _not_ keeping himself healthy again."

 

Harley shuddered when his sister's eyes were on him, and he turned to the other side so that he couldn't face half of his sister's wrath upon him.

 

"It's no problem," Harith said and held back a chuckle when Harley hid his face under the blankets. "I'll make sure he just closes his eyes and sleep."

 

➳

 

"I mean, I'm not _that_ tired."

 

Oh boy, here it comes again. Whenever Harley had fallen asleep, he would wake up about half an hour later, and start rambling that his sister was just overreacting, that he wasn't as sick as they thought he was, that he needed to study before he forgets all the formulas—and the list goes on from there.

 

Harith sighed and lowered the book he was reading. "Yes, you are. You may think you're okay, but your body tells you otherwise. Now, be quiet and go to sleep."

 

"I already did. Didn't you see me sleep?" Harley asked, sending him a glower.

 

"Yes, but that isn't enough. Now, close your eyes and stop bothering me. I need to study too."

 

Harith focused onto his book again, and he was thankful when Harley let out a sigh and kept quiet. Finally, the mage knows when to go to sleep. But Harley proved him wrong when he broke the silence again. "Can you question me?"

 

"No," Harith said, flipping the page of his book. "Go to sleep."

 

"No," Harley mimicked.

 

"Okay, I'm going to ignore you now. Just wanna let you know that I'm doing this for _your_ sake," Harith said, reading the book again. When Harley started imitating his voice in a childish tone, Harith rubbed his face. "First of all, I don't talk like that. Secondly, how old are you? Twelve?"

 

He realised his mistake when he spoke it, because Harley simply rolled his eyes before saying, "I _am_ twelve. Thanks for telling me that I'm acting my age."

 

Harith grunted and shut his book closed. He narrowed his eyes when a sneaky grin spreaded across Harley's face. So the mage was purposely annoying him because he doesn't get what he wants. He really was a troublesome child. "Okay, what do I have to do to get you to sleep?"

 

"Ask me questions."

 

"Why are you so weird?" Harith asked, and Harley raised a brow. "I mean, anyone would want to avoid reading books. But you..." He sighed and looked back at the mage. "You just seem to have some kind of weird addiction to books."

 

"I'm not addicted to books, I'm just addicted to proving others that I'm the best."

 

"Oh wow, okay."

 

Harley snorted and chuckled. Unexpectedly, he smiled, and it took Harith by surprise, because it had been a while since Harley had given anyone a genuine smile—unless it's for Lesley. The Mage Genius said, "I'm just joking. I just want to make my parents proud."

 

"Yeah, but don't you think they would be happier if you take care of yourself more?" Harith asked, frowning. "This is serious if even Lesley is mad at you for it. As far as I know, she's _never_ mad at you—unless you decided to do something stupid and hurt yourself, which is like, right now."

 

"I know."

 

"Then, why do you keep doing this to yourself?"

 

"Because," Harley moved himself up by shifting into a sitting position. He coughed a few times before leaning against the headboard. "You know that I've been to Lion Academy, right?"

 

Harith nodded, slowly, not entirely sure where this was going. "Yeah."

 

"You are aware that I skipped a few years of classes, right?"

 

"Yeah. I heard it's because you're a fast learner."

 

"Okay, so... the kids there aren't all that friendly. Almost all of them are competitive—always wanting to be the best student. There are only a few rare ones who are  _actually_ nice and doesn't use you for their own personal gain," Harley explained, and Harith was surprised. He had always thought Harley's previous academy was filled with nice people. He guessed that he was wrong. "Since the academy considered me as a genius, they made me skip a few years of classes. And, that meant, I had to join with the older kids."

 

Harith could see where this was going, and he didn't like it at all. "Did they bully you?"

 

"No—I mean, it's not like that. They didn't hurt me or anything. They just love provoking me for some weird reason," Harley said, his voice quiet. "So... the teachers didn't realise they had put me into a class higher than my level. They thought it was balanced for me, so they left me there. I guess it's my fault because I never complained to them. I thought that; maybe I could do it. But then exams came, and I failed."

 

To hear Harley failing for the first time, the mage must've felt depressed for the next few days. Harith had heard that the Mage Genius always scored his exams. So, to hear that he had failed, he couldn't imagine Harley's expression when he got his results.

 

"When I looked at my results, I didn't know how to react." Harley chuckled, but the sound was mirthless. Harith couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards the mage. " _Harley Vance failing for the first time_? It spreaded across the whole academy within _hours_. It couldn't have gotten any worse, I thought, but then the kids came and told me that I should just go back to where I belong—that I should know my limits and take a step down."

 

Harith frowned. "They had always been jealous of you, weren't they?"

 

Harley smiled faintly. "They wouldn't stop bothering me since day one, so I guess you could say they were jealous." He then looked away and sighed. "I had always been able to ignore them. But, that day, I just... their words affected me so much."

 

Harith looked at the mage in silence. So this was why Harley was so determined whenever exams were near. Because he had a reputation, and he was trying his best to keep it. After hearing how he had failed, no wonder he studies like crazy. Harith spoke, "You started working hard ever since then, didn't you?"

 

"Yeah," the mage answered and let out a small laugh. "After I failed the first time, I decided to study harder. So, whenever exams are near, I barely get any sleep just so that I never fail again. The teachers _did_ realise that the class was too hard for me, but I begged them not to switch me into another class. I told them I could do it. The teachers believed me, and after I got excellent in the next exams, they let me stay."

 

"But why do you still do that? Study hard, I mean. No one would insult you if you fail here," Harith said. _Especially since your sister is here_ , he thought.

 

Harley shrugged. "Habits are hard to die."

 

"Well," Harith said, placing his book onto the bedside table. "Now that you know this place isn't like Lion Academy, I suggest you start relaxing and close your eyes."

 

Harley looked like he was about to say no, but then he had a look of contemplation on his face. He let out a deep breath and laid back on the bed. "Fine."

 

Harith grinned as he watched Harley closed his eyes. It was sad to hear Harley telling that he got pressured into studying harder, but things have changed now. Here, no one judges you for your failures. Nana and Cyclops had been failing many exams now, and the two of them didn't bother to try fixing their grades. Yeah, it frustrates Fanny and Miya that the two children didn't want to study, but they were only kids (at least, that's how Cyclops behave), so the two adults didn't bother pushing them to study harder.

 

Harith propped his face in his hand as he stared at Harley, who had both of his eyes closed. He waited for a while, until Harley's breathing became even. Finally, the mage was asleep. He had no idea how Lesley could handle him with his rebellious nature. But then again, Harley loves his sister so much, he would do anything for her. The only time where he wouldn't listen to her was now—and that was the time nearing exam week.

 

Looking at Harley's serene face, Harith couldn't help but smile. He never said this out loud, but he finds Harley... cute. Harley may try to act all boastful and annoying, but that still doesn't prevent him from seeing how adorable he is.

 

All of a sudden, Harley opened his eyes, and Harith found himself staring awkwardly at the mage. Harley blinked a few times before raising a brow. "May I ask why you're staring at me like that?"

 

Harith could feel a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead as he realised that he had been caught staring. He wanted to deny and apologise at first, but then his mind decided to tease the Mage Genius instead. So he ended up giving the mage a wide smile and said, "Because you're cute."

 

Harley's lips instantly morphed into a frown.

 

And when Lesley returned from her training, she found a cat, barely alive, in their room.

**Author's Note:**

> sorry it the ending is lame or short. i just needed to get this done lol. i already have a few oneshots done, but i need to edit them first (//∇//) ahh the horror
> 
> thanks for reading btw :)


End file.
